


He has company

by Oneofthe3gs



Series: Company [2]
Category: VIXX
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-12
Updated: 2018-08-11
Packaged: 2019-06-09 06:17:47
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 7
Words: 9,601
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15261231
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Oneofthe3gs/pseuds/Oneofthe3gs
Summary: Hongbin decided it was about time that he got to know his next door neighbor. However, he may come to regret that decision after learning about his connections.(Sequel to "I Have Company" I would suggest reading that first so this story makes a bit more sense.)





	1. The Meeting

     About a month after he started dating Taekwoon, Hongbin began to wonder about the backstory of his next door neighbor. It really started as a random thought he had after watching said neighbor lock his door before rushing down the street. It occurred to Hongbin that he knew little to nothing about the man next door. Sure the man had come over and introduced himself, his name was Hakyeon if he remembered correctly, but after that interaction the two never spoke. Hell, Hongbin hadn’t even lit the candle that Hakyeon had gifted to him on his first day in town. Hakyeon seemed nice enough. Nothing about him really raised any red flags. As far as Hongbin could tell after observing the other man for a few days; he certainly was a man of habit. He always left the house at the same exact time everyday, which was 7 in the morning, never a minute earlier or later. The same could be said about the time he got home, which was at 9 in the evening. After observing Hakyeon for a few more days Hongbin decided to try to get closer to his neighbor. Hongbin didn’t think that Hakyeon would like it very much if he tried to approach him during a weekday, since the man looked to be in a bit of a hurry as he scurried out of his house everyday. As a result Hongbin decided to wait for the weekend. But even if he decided to wait it didn’t mean he would sit around. He decided to see if Jaehwan knew anything about his neighbor, since Jaehwan was known to be the town gossip.

     Hongbin sat at his desk in the studio, editing a few photos from the photoshoot he had the day before. Taekwoon walked behind him, sliding a hand across his shoulders as he passed by. He and Taekwoon agreed to stay professional at work, since neither of them wanted to hear Jaehwan screaming about it later. Speaking of Jaehwan, the man had just returned to his desk from his own photoshoot. “I swear, these models have no idea what high concept art is.” Hongbin let out a chuckle. “Let me guess, you tried to put one of them in the lettuce suit again.” Jaehwan let out a gasp. “I am so offended that you think so lowly of me. I’ll have you know it was the steak suit this time. And not just any steak. Oh no it was the T-Bone.” Hongbin couldn’t do anything but laugh at the comment. “I’m sure if she was modeling for a dog magazine she would have loved it.” Jaehwan gave him a smack on the arm before getting to work. A few minutes later Hongbin remembered the question he wanted to ask Jaehwan. “Oh by the way can I ask you about someone?” Jaehwan looked towards him with a lifted eyebrow. “In what sense?” “In the sense that they’re my neighbor and I know next to nothing about them even though they were super nice to me on my first day here.” Jaehwan let out a hum of understanding before opening a drawer in his desk. The drawer had many files in it. “I don’t know if I should be concerned or impressed about the fact that you keep files on almost everyone in town.” Jaehwan ignored his comment. “Who’s your neighbor?” “If I remember his name correctly it’s Hakyeon.” Jaehwan sifted through the files in his desk before pulling one out. “I have one Hakyeon on file here.” Jaehwan pulled out a picture from the file. “This is him right?” “Yup. That’s him.” Jaehwan put the photo back in the file. “Well good news is unlike your boyfriend I have more than his address. Bad news is I don’t have too much information about him. Let’s see . . . he moved here a few years back, no one knows where he lived before or why he moved here. He teaches dance at the community center down the street. He is a pretty decent guy overall. Most people like him, and the ones who don’t still have a high level of respect for him. The only negative thing that I can really say about him is that sometimes he zones out in the middle of conversations. But other than that a lot of people are glad to have him in their lives.” Jaehwan closed the file loudly. “That’s all I got. But maybe Taekwoon knows something?” Hongbin tilted his head in confusion. “Why would Taekwoon know about him?” “You didn’t know? Taekwoon volunteers at the community center to help with the kindergarten program.” Hongbin nodded. “That sounds like something he would do. Okay, I’ll ask him at lunch.”

     When lunchtime came around Hongbin made his way to Taekwoon’s office. He made sure to knock before going in. Taekwoon turned around in his chair to face Hongbin. “Oh, it’s you.” Hongbin snickered. “That is the perfect way to address your boyfriend when he walks into your office.” Taekwoon let out a chuckle. “And how would you prefer I greet you? Do you want me to shower you with roses whenever you enter a room?” “How did you know?” Hongbin said as he approached the desk. “Very funny. But seriously, what bring you to my office this afternoon?” Hongbin took a seat in one of the chairs in front of Taekwoon’s desk. “I’m actually doing a bit of research. You see I’ve been living here for almost two months and I have yet to have a proper conversation with my neighbor. He seems pretty interesting and he was very nice to me on my first day in town. I was wondering if you knew anything about him?” Taekwoon leaned back in his chair a bit. “And why do you think I know him?” “He works at the community center. Which a little birdy told me you happen to volunteer at from time to time.” Taekwoon folded his arms at that point. “Well your bird friend really needs to stop snooping around my personal life. But if you give me your neighbors name I might be able to tell you something.” “His name is Hakyeon. He teaches dance at the center?” Taekwoon wracked his brain for a few minutes before snapping his fingers. “Oh yeah. I do know a little bit about him.” Hongbin deflated a little bit. “You only know a little bit?” “Well yeah. He’s plenty friendly but he’s really private as well.” Hongbin smiles at that. “Aww Taekwoonie has a work buddy.” Taekwoon scoffs. “Yeah. Anyway, I know that he has a few hobbies he likes to indulge in, like candle making and figure skating. He’s pretty affectionate, to the point that it can be a little extra. And he really likes what he does for a living.” Taekwoon unfolded his arms. “That’s all I really know.” Hongbin’s eyebrows furrowed. “That’s it?” Taekwoon nodded. “Yeah. Like I said he’s pretty private about his personal life.” Hongbin left Taekwoon’s office after talking a bit more about what he could invite Hakyeon to do that weekend. He left the office a bit more confused that when he entered. Was there a reason that Hakyeon was so private? Hongbin shrugged the feeling off. _“Not everyone is hiding something Hongbin.”_ He thought to himself. _“Maybe he just likes to keep his private life and his work life separate.”_ But the feeling that something was off never left Hongbin.

     The weekend couldn’t come sooner for Hongbin. It wasn’t that he disliked work, but he was excited to ask Hakyeon to hang out. He had already thought of a good place to go if Hakyeon accepted his offer. Since he knew Hakyeon liked to make candles he decided to go to the local farmers market. It would be a good opportunity for Hakyeon to pick some flowers as a fragrance for the candles, and Hongbin could try to learn more about the man next door. During the weekends Hakyeon still had a schedule that he followed religiously. He would go out to the garden he had in his backyard first thing in the morning and tend to the plants, making sure that there were no weeds growing around the vegetable patch. That was Hongbin’s chance to talk with him. Just like every weekend Hakyeon walked out to tend to his garden. Hongbin walked over to the gate. “Hey Hakyeon!” Just as he called Hakyeon’s name the other man turned around, greeting Hongbin with a smile and a wave. “Hey Hongbin!” He greeted, walking over to Hongbin so they didn’t have to shout at each other. “What’s up?” Hakyeon asked when he was close enough. “Nothing much. I just thought it would be nice if we could hangout. We don’t really talk that often.” Hakyeon nodded. “Sure. What did you have in mind?” “I was thinking about going to the farmer’s market. It seems like a good place to just take a stroll.” Hakyeon reached into his pocket. “That sounds like a lot of fun. Here put your number in my phone so we can smooth out the details later.” Hakyeon said, passing Hongbin his phone. Hongbin went to grab the phone. Their fingertips brushed. Hongbin was then shocked my what he felt.

 

**Hakyeon had hundreds of spirits connected to him.**

  
  
  



	2. A Night to Remember

     To say that Hongbin was shocked at how many spirits were connected to Hakyeon was an understatement. He had never seen so many spirits connected to one person. It left Hongbin amazed, but also very confused. How did Hakyeon have so many connections to spirits? It wasn’t likely that these spirits were in anyway related to Hakyeon, since Hongbin didn’t feel any familial or romantic connections. All of the spirits connected to him had no connection to each other either. He felt like the spirits were from various walks of life, and no two spirits shared a death day from what he could tell. So why were they attached to Hakyeon? Did Hakyeon know that he was so connected to the spirit world? If he did then what was the reason that all of these souls were connected to him? And if he was oblivious it was Hongbin’s duty to make sure he figured it out. Because he couldn’t stand the fact that so many spirits were trapped on earth. Hongbin resolved to sit Hakyeon down for a talk about all of the connections he had when they were out at the farmer’s market. For the moment he put his number in Hakyeon’s phone and went back to his house, since Taekwoon was over for the night and he didn’t want to miss anytime with him. 

Hongbin slammed the door to his home shut, a little bit stressed over what he had just felt from Hakyeon. He smelled something coming from the kitchen, so he decided to distract himself a bit by spending time with Taekwoon. Speaking of the other man, he was standing in the kitchen, kneading a big ball of dough. Hongbin took off his shoes and walked over to his boyfriend, giving him a peck on the cheek as he watched Taekwoon roll the dough flat. “And what would my lovely boyfriend happen to be making?” Hongbin asked as he placed his chin on Taekwoon’s shoulder to get a better look at the recipe he had open on his phone. “I’m trying my hand at making croissants. Wonshik visited me in my dream last night just to tell me that I only knew how to make pasta, which is so not true. I’ll show him to respect his older brother.” Hongbin let out a laugh. Taekwoon turned his head to face him. “And what is so funny?” “The fact that out of all the things he could have said when visiting you in your dream he decided to diss your cooking skills.” Taekwoon stopped kneading for a moment. “How is that funny? Are you condoning him doing this?” “Maybe I am. Maybe I agree with him.” Taekwoon raised an eyebrow. “Is that so? Well then maybe you would enjoy never eating my cooking again. And maybe you would enjoy having to address me as ‘Mr. Jung’ when we’re at work.” Hongbin squeezed Taekwoon’s waist. “Geez you don’t have to pull out the ‘Mr.Jung’ card on me. You know how much I love your cooking.” Taekwoon hummed before getting back to his work. 

     “So how did your conversation with Hakyeon go?” Taekwoon asked as they sat down for dinner. Hongbin froze for a moment, the memory of the spirits connected to Hakyeon rushing to the surface. “Uh . . . it went good. We’re thinking of going to the farmer’s market next Saturday, but we haven't really made any final decision.” Hongbin said, filling his mouth with food after seeing the way that Taekwoon suspiciously looked at him. “And?” “And what?” Taekwoon rolled his eyes. “Hongbin, I know you’re not telling me something. What’s up?” Hongbin bit his lip, hesitating to voice his concern. “It’s just . . . something is off about him.” “How so?” Hongbin ran his fingers through his hair. “He has a lot of spirits connected to him. Like hundreds of them. And I don’t think I’ve ever seen anything like that. I’m just concerned about the spirits. Like did Hakyeon accidently make all of these connections to these spirits, or is he collecting souls? It’s just really confusing.” Taekwoon looked just as confused as Hongbin felt. “Wait, hundreds of spirits? If he is collecting spirits, which I don’t think he is doing, what would he be collecting them for?” “That’s what I’m trying to figure out. I don’t think he’s doing it on purpose either, but if he is what would he need so many souls for?” Hongbin leaned back in his chair. “It’s just giving me a big headache thinking about it.” Taekwoon frowned for a moment before reaching out and taking Hongbin’s hand in his own. “I’m sure you’ll figure it out. But for now let’s just enjoy dinner and rest. Tomorrow we’ll see what we can find out about him. Okay?” Hongbin smiled. “Okay.” He said, giving Taekwoon a kiss on the back of his hand before resuming their meal. After dinner Taekwoon and Hongbin got ready for bed. Hongbin drifted off to sleep with his head pillowed on Taekwoon’s chest, the steady heartbeat of his boyfriend soothing him to sleep.

_      When Hongbin opened his eyes he saw nothing but darkness. Had he really opened his eyes? He blinked a few times to make sure his eyes were open, but no matter how much he blinked he was still met with the same darkness. He looked around, trying to see if there was a light source anywhere. There was none to be found. Hongbin started to panic a bit. He felt strange. He didn't feel like he was dreaming, but at the same time he didn’t feel like he was awake.  _ “Am I . . . being visited?”  _ He thought to himself. That question made him panic more, because he didn’t feel like he was being visited either. There was a weird amount of solidity to what he was feeling. It felt like he was in a limbo of sorts. Just as he was trying to figure out what might be going on he heard something. It was a little whisper. He couldn’t make out what was being said by the little whisper, but soon he would be glad about that. Soon there were other whispers that joined the first one. And then they got louder. And louder. And louder. Soon what started as a single whisper turned into complete chaos. Every whisper turned into loud screams. They were screams of pain. Screams of fear. Screams of sadness. Screams that seemed to only get louder and closer to his ears. Hongbin covered his ears with his hands, trying to block out any of the wailing that he could. He started to scream as well from the pain that the screams were bringing to him. He crouched down into the fetal position, still not letting go of his ears in fear that his skull would crack in half if he let up the tight grip he had on his head for even a second. And soon the voices began to scream one thing in unison. Tears had begun to pour down his face when he heard what they were saying. Thankfully something broke through all of the sounds of agony. A soft voice filtering through all of the screams. He didn’t know what it was saying, but it was soothing. He focused all of his efforts in listening to the soft voice that was whispering sweet nothings into his ears, acting like a balm of sorts on his aching head. He got up from where he was laying and tried to follow the voice. It was then that he was struck with a sudden bright light. _

“Hongbin! Hongbin please wake up you’re scaring me.” Hongbin opened his eyes at the soft voice. But like in his dream when he opened his eyes he was met with darkness. He started to panic, thinking that he was blind or that the screams would come back. He flailed for a little bit before a light was turned on. Hongbin closed his eyes at the bright light. He slowly opened his eyes, revealing the terrified face of Taekwoon. “Oh thank God!” Taekwoon said as he scooped Hongbin into his arms. “ I thought you were never going to wake up.” He said as he rocked them back and forth, more for his comfort than for Hongbin’s. Hongbin was a bit shaken up from his nightmare, so he stayed silent as he drank in Taekwoon’s warmth. After a few minutes of collecting himself Hongbin spoke. “What happened?” Taekwoon held him tighter. “You tell me. One minute I’m sleeping peacefully and the next thing I know you’re screaming bloody murder.” Hongbin took a deep breath. “I was blind, I think. And there were all of these voices. They sounded like they were being tortured. And then they kept saying one thing over and over again.” Taekwoon unwrapped his arms from Hongbin a little bit to look him in the eyes. “What were the voices saying?” Hongbin took a few more deep breaths before he answered his boyfriend. 

 

**“Hakyeon.”**

 


	3. Nervous

     Hongbin didn’t know what to do with himself after the dream he had. Usually his dreams would provide some sort of insight into his problems, thanks to his grandmother influencing his dreams when he had problems he couldn’t solve on his own. But nothing about this felt right. Not only had the dream made the situation more difficult, but what he felt in the dream was unfamiliar territory for him. Usually when he was visited in his dreams there was a haziness to his senses that helped him understand what he was feeling. But this dream felt too real. He felt like he was looking through the eyes of a living person. But that was impossible. He had never been able to see through the eyes of the living before. And that certainly wasn’t something his grandmother ever told him about. But maybe . . . it happened. But surely this was just a fluke. Unfortunately it wasn’t. For the rest of the week he had the exact same dream. And everyday the screams seemed to get louder and last longer. Taekwoon had told him that he was struggling to wake Hongbin up, sometimes he resorted to throwing cups of ice water at him to stop his screams. This was becoming dangerous, because Hongbin knew if this trend continued he might not wake up from one of these nightmares. So he decided to talk to Hakyeon as soon as he could. Hongbin had texted Hakyeon then, asking him to hang out that Saturday. Hakyeon had readily agreed. 

     Hongbin was sitting at work the Friday before he was supposed to meet Hakyeon. He had woken up with a red cheek from where Taekwoon had smacked him to wake him up. Apparently the cups of ice water didn’t do anything today. (Taekwoon had quickly apologized for smacking him and treated him to a breakfast feast to make sure he was forgiven.) Now that he was sitting at his desk at work he regretted not begging Taekwoon to let him stay home for the day. His energy felt like it was lower than rock bottom. He was so distracted by how tired he had suddenly become he didn’t notice Jaehwan approaching his desk. As a result he flinched when the other man rested his hand on his shoulder. “Hey, are you okay?” Hongbin turned to face Jaehwan, noting the worried expression on his face. “Yeah, I’m fine. Why?” He replied instantly, not wanting to worry his friend further. Jaehwan looked less than convinced. “I’m saying this in the nicest way I can, but you look like shit.” Hongbin scoffed. “I’m serious. You look like you just got run over by a bus or something. Are you sure you should be at work? I’m positive Taekwoon won’t say anything if you decide to head home early today.” Hongbin let out a sigh. “Look, I know you’re concerned, but I promise I’m fine. If it makes you feel any better I’ll go and ask Taekwoon if I can take a nap in his office. If I don’t feel better after that I’ll go home okay?” Jaehwan looked satisfied by the answer and even walked Hongbin all the way to Taekwoon’s office himself, he even went as far as to knock on the door for him. “Come in.” They heard from the other side of the door. Jaehwan walked in and herded Hongbin to the couch. “Your boyfriend is being stubborn about staying at work when he’s sick so he’s gonna take a nap here. When he wakes up send him right home if he is anything less than perfectly healthy.” Jaehwan didn’t leave any room for argument as he walked out of the office and closed the door behind him. “Do you really feel that bad?” Taekwoon asked, going over to the water bubbler in his office to make Hongbin some tea. Hongbin relaxed into the couch. “These nightmares have been taking a toll on me. I think I’ll be fine after the nap.” Hongbin said, accepting the tea that Taekwoon gave him. He drank it slowly, letting the warmth from the tea slowly relax his tense muscles. Hongbin set his mug down before completely laying on the couch. “Wake me up in an hour and if I feel better I’ll get right back to work. Okay?” Taekwoon was draping a throw blanket on Hongbin as he spoke. “I’ll be sure to. But if you don’t feel better I’m taking you home.” Hongbin chuckled before settling down for his nap.

_      Hongbin couldn’t describe what he was feeling. He was awake, and he could feel that he was laying down on something. But his eyes refused to open and his limbs felt like they were made of lead. He could hear voices, but they sounded like they were underwater with how muffled everything sounded. And then it felt like he was falling. He could feel the wind whipping past his ears. His body felt weightless as he seemed to soar through the air. What followed that sensation was pain. He felt his body crash into something solid. And the feeling of crashing repeated itself over and over again. Finally the crashing sensation stopped and he was left on his stomach on a solid surface. He had a splitting headache and every bone in his body felt sore. He could feel that his body was twisted into unnatural angles in some places. He also felt liquid running down his face. His eyelids popped open on their own accord. He saw nothing but the floor and a pair of shoes running past him. He couldn’t move. He tried with all of his might to move any tiny part of his body that he could, but it was like his body wasn’t listening to him. It was getting hard to breathe. His lungs felt like there were some sort of chains being squeezed around them. He felt himself being shifted and was greeted with a bright light. _

     Hongbin’s eyes opened and he sat up as fast as he could, taking deep breaths of air to soothe the ache in his lungs. His arms wrapped around his ribcage unconsciously, as if he was trying to protect his lungs from the phantom chains that had wrapped around them in his dream. Taekwoon came into the office at that time, carrying what looked to be a bag full of takeout containers. Taekwoon looked up with a smile, probably to tell Hongbin about what food he got, until he saw the state he was in. The smile faded into a worried stare as Taekwoon put the bag of food down on the coffee table.  He walked over to Hongbin and placed his hands on his shoulders. “Are you okay?” Instead of answering Hongbin wrapped his arms around Taekwoon’s neck, calming himself down with the bitter smell of coffee that always lingered on Taekwoon’s skin. After taking a few shaky breaths Hongbin told Taekwoon everything. Taekwoon took him home then and comforted him until it was time to go to sleep.

     Hongbin was a little nervous for what the day would bring. Today he was going to figure out if Hakyeon was innocently collecting souls, or stealing the spirits for an evil purpose. He got ready for the day at the farmers market. Taekwoon was going with them, since he had some ingredients for dinner that he preferred buying at the farmer’s market, or so he told Hongbin. Hongbin didn’t feel like arguing. As they exited their house they saw Hakyeon leaving his. He looked a little off this afternoon. To an onlooker he may have looked like his usual cheerful self. But Hongbin could see that he was forcing it a bit. There was genuine happiness there, but there was a tiredness to his motions. Hongbin didn’t bring it up. They piled into Hakyeon’s car and drove to the market. They had a pretty good time there, filled with happy stories from Hakyeon. He even managed to get a chuckle out of Taekwoon every now and then. But in the back of Hongbin’s mind he couldn’t get over how many spirits were connected to Hakyeon, and how tired Hakyeon himself seemed when he thought no one was looking. So maybe he should have expected what came next. The ground beneath them was very uneven. Normally this probably wouldn’t have been a problem for Hakyeon. But considering how tired he seemed, and the fact that he was chatting with Hongbin, he didn’t see the little hole in the ground. Hakyeon tripped and landed stomach first onto the ground below. Luckily he caught his upper body before it could smack the grass underneath him. Hongbin and Taekwoon rushed to his side. “Hakyeon are you okay? Did you hurt yourself?” Hongbin asked as he helped Hakyeon up, Taekwoon assisting from the other side.

     “Yeah of course. Didn’t see the hole there.” Hakyeon said with a laugh. But when he put weight on his right leg he let out a hiss of pain. Taekwoon picked up on it. “Can you walk?” Hakyeon tried but every time he put weight on his leg he would let out sounds of pain. “Alright, looks like you may have sprained your ankle. We should get you to a hospital to get it looked at.” At the mention of the hospital Hakyeon froze. “No hospitals.” Hakyeon said looking at Taekwoon. “Hakyeon you need to go to the hospital or else you’ll hurt yourself more.” Hongbin tried to reason. “No. I don’t need to go to the hospital I feel fine. See?” Hakyeon tried once again to walk, but he let out a yowl of pain soon after. Hongbin sighed. “Come on, get on my back so you don’t hurt yourself more. Hakyeon shook his head. “I don’t need a hospital. I can take care of it myself. Please don’t make me go there.” He said as he began to tear up a bit. “Hakyeon, we’re going to the hospital no and, ifs, or buts.” Taekwoon said, lifting up Hakyeon before the shorter man could protest any further. 

 

**Hakyeon whimpered at the thought.**

 


	4. The Hospital

     The entire ride to the hospital was tense. Hakyeon was shaking like a leaf in the back of the car. Hongbin didn’t know if the shaking was from the pain he was in or his apparent fear of hospitals. Hongbin and Taekwoon both tried their best to calm Hakyeon down. They talked about lighter topics to try and keep his mind occupied. But nothing seemed to work. The closer they got to the hospital the more sickly Hakyeon looked. They parked in the emergency room lot when they finally arrived at the hospital. Hongbin opened the door to the back of the car. “Hongbin, I swear I’m fine. I just need to put a little bit of ice on it. I’m sure the swelling will go down if I keep pressure off of my foot.” Hakyeon tried to reason. Taekwoon sighed. “Look, you may not be a big fan of hospitals but you need to go in. Your ankle is super swollen and your whimpering from any pressure put on it doesn’t reassure me much.” Taekwoon crouched a bit so he was level to Hakyeon's watery eyes. “If it makes you feel any better I’m not the biggest fan of hospitals either. But when you need to get treated you need to get treated. If you don’t you’ll just end up in more pain later than you are right now. So let’s nip the pain in the bud before it gets worse, okay?” Hakyeon looked like he wanted to argue some more, but he relented once he knew that no matter what he said they would get him into the hospital somehow. With a deep sigh, and a few blinks to make the tears in his eyes go away, Hakyeon let Hongbin carry him into the hospital. 

 

     If Hongbin was being honest with himself, he probably hated hospitals more than Hakyeon did. They were always filled to the brim with the dead. The older the hospital was, the more spirits would roam around the halls. A good majority of the spirits had died tragically as well, which led to some pretty gruesome sights. Hongbin hated the fact that he couldn’t cross any of the spirits in the hospitals over. He and his grandmother agreed that they had to leave souls in hospitals alone, because there were many souls that walked around the building that belonged to people that were fighting for their lives. Neither of them could tell the difference between the souls that were already gone and the souls that had a chance to live another day. So he promised his grandmother that, as much as it killed him, he would never cross a spirit in the hospital. Hongbin was so glad that he had learned how to block out the wails of agony that blasted in his ears whenever he had to visit someone in the hospital. Today was like every other day in a hospital. Full of living and dead people wandering around the halls. He turned his attention to Hakyeon and saw that the other man had gone a little green in the face. His right ear was pressed hard against Hongbin’s chest and his left hand was covering his left ear, almost like he was trying to block something out. “You okay Hakyeon?” He whispered, not wanting to draw the attention of the nurse that was leading them to Hakyeon’s examination room. Hakyeon looked at him with glossy eyes. “Yeah, I just like the sound of your heart. It’s really soothing.” He said, not moving from the position he had settled himself into on Hongbin’s chest. Hongbin let Hakyeon be after hearing his answer, seeing as he wanted to make Hakyeon as comfortable as possible. The nurse showed them the room and informed them that the doctor would be in to see them shortly. Taekwoon sat in one of the chairs by the bed. Hongbin went to put Hakyeon down on the bed, not missing the little whimper that left his lips when Hongbin moved his head from his chest. Hakyeon also put his arm down, resting both of his hands on his thighs. Hongbin took a seat next to Taekwoon and pulled out his phone. He made it look like he was playing a game on it, but he was actually observing Hakyeon to make sure he was really okay. 

 

     As time went on Hakyeon looked more and more like a wreck. It started out small, with Hakyeon twisting his fingers this way and that every couple of seconds. The twisting moved to pulling after about a minute. Hakyeon’s breathing started getting deep, with the other man taking big breaths of air before slowly letting the air out. Then came the lip biting, with Hakyeon chewing at his lips so intensely Hongbin was surprised they hadn’t started bleeding. Hakyeon started to slowly rock on the bed after that, his arms wrapping around his torso as he continued to take deep breaths. Hongbin noticed that the spirits around Hakyeon seemed to get more and more agitated as time progressed. “Hakyeon?” The dancer whipped his head towards Hongbin. “You okay there?” Hakyeon laughed nervously. “Yeah, I’m fine. I just don’t like h-hospitals.” Hakyeon swallowed loudly before continuing his thoughts. “They just make me a little bit anxious.” Hongbin noticed that Hakyeon’s fingernails were digging into his arms by the end of the sentence. “As long as you’re sure.” Hongbin said, not believing Hakyeon at all. Hakyeon gave him a tense smile. 

 

     The spirits around Hakyeon were furious, Hongbin could have felt that from a mile away. And unfortunately the spirits that roamed around the halls felt that fury as well. They began to crowd the room. Hongbin once again thanked his grandmother that he could block out all of the noise they were probably making. It didn’t stop the headache that he got from all of the energy from said spirits being packed into one place. Taekwoon looked concerned when Hongbin started to rub at his temples. He grabbed Hongbin’s hand. “You okay? Do you need something?” Hongbin smiled at the gesture. “There’s just a lot of energy in here. It’s giving me a headache. Do you mind getting me some snacks from the vending machine outside?” Taekwoon nodded and gave Hongbin a peck on the cheek before getting up and going to the vending machine. Hongbin closed his eyes and took a few deep breaths before looking back at Hakyeon. What he saw surprised him a bit. 

 

     Hakyeon had both of his hands jammed to his ears. It looked like he was trying to crush his own skull between his palms. His fingers were twisted in his dark hair, and his deep breaths turned into short bursts of air. Tears poured down the dancer’s face as he rocked a bit more in the bed. Hongbin got up and wrapped his hands around Hakyeon’s wrists. He tried to pry the hands off of Hakyeon’s skull but that seemed to make him more distressed, as a few sobs left his mouth. “Hakyeon? Hakyeon talk to me. What’s bothering you?” Hakyeon sobbed a bit more before opening his eyes that were blurred with tears. “Hongbin.” A few more sobs. “Hongbin it hurts. It hurts so much.” Hakyeon leaned his head against Hongbin’s shoulder. “What hurts?” Hakyeon sniffles. “My head. My h-head h-hurts so bad. They’re so loud.” Hongbin was confused. “Who is being too loud?” “I d-don’t know! There’s just so many voices. And they keep screaming. I don’t know how to make them stop.” Hongbin froze. Loud voices? “Do you know what they’re saying?” Hakyeon shakes his head. “There are too many voices. They’re all screaming different things and- and -and.” Hakyeon starts hyperventilating at that point. “Make them stop. Make them stop. Make them stop!” Hongbin tries his best to calm Hakyeon down. At that point Taekwoon walks in. “Hongbin what’s going on?” Before Hongbin can answer Hakyeon goes limp in his arms. Hongbin looks to Hakyeon and sees that the other man is completely out cold. Hongbin shakes him a bit to try and wake him up, but it doesn’t work. Hongbin looks back to Taekwoon who looks just as confused as he feels.

 

**“What the hell just happened?”**

 


	5. Disconnect

     Hongbin explained what had happened. Taekwoon listened carefully. “So wait. He hears them? The spirits I mean.” Hongbin shrugged his shoulders. “I guess so. But it doesn't seem like he can see them.”  He replied, fixing Hakyeon’s bangs a bit as the other man slept. His rest looked anything but peaceful. “So what now? I mean we can say to the doctor that he passed out from the pain, but he needs to be awake to get discharged. If he wakes up here he might go through all of that pain again.” Hongbin sighed. “I know.” Hongbin looked to the spirits that seemed to have mellowed out for the time being. “I just wish I understood how he’s connected to all of these spirits.” They sat in silence until the doctor came in. They told the story about him having a low pain tolerance, which led to him passing out from the pain he was in. The doctor looked at the injury before diagnosing him with a sprained ankle and wrapping it up. The doctor suggested he rest and keep ice on the ankle before prescribing some medication to help with the pain. “Once Mr. Cha is conscious please notify me immediately so I can get his discharge papers.” The doctor said with a smile before leaving the room, closing the door on the way out. 

 

     Hongbin had not said a word the entire time the doctor was in the room. The second he was gone Hongbin turned to Taekwoon. “I think I know how I can help Hakyeon.” Taekwoon looked surprised. “And how do you plan on doing that?” Hongbin bit his lip. “I need you to wait outside and make sure no one comes in. I’m gonna go right to the source to figure out what the problem is.” Taekwoon’s eyes widened. “Are you sure about this? What if those spirits are evil? Or what if Hakyeon really is using them for a bad reason?” Hongbin shrugs off his jacket. “ Well then that’s more of a reason to deal with it. If they are evil Hakyeon will feel better without them. And if he’s the bad guy they can be set free before he does any harm to them.” Hongbin turns to Taekwoon. “If it gets too dangerous I’ll leave, but please let me try.” Taekwoon sighed after seeing the determination in his boyfriend’s eyes. “Fine. I’ll wait outside. But if this takes longer than an hour I’m dragging you out of here.” Hongbin hugged Taekwoon before the other man left the room. Hongbin stood up and took a deep breath. “Here goes nothing.” He said as he closed his eyes, tuning in to what the spirits were saying.

 

     The noise that greeted him first was many confused voices yelling at each other. He opened his eyes from the shock of going from a noiseless room to a loud one. He saw that a lot of the spirits from the hospital were still in the room and not connected to Hakyeon. “Excuse me?” Hongbin said, but he was too quiet to be heard over the noise. “Excuse me!” He repeated getting the spirits’ attention. Most of them looked shocked. “Sorry for interrupting, but could the spirits not attached to the man in the bed please leave the room?” The spirits listened to Hongbin, more out of shock from being seen than any other reason. Hongbin turned to the spirits that were left in the room. The spirit of a little girl holding a teddy bear stepped forward. “Can you see us Mister?” She asked, looking up at him with big brown eyes. Hongbin nodded his head. “Yes. I see you, and I hear you.” An older man in the crowd of spirits spoke up. “Finally, someone who can see us instead of this idiot who can only hear us.” The older man was delivered a swift smack behind the head from a woman who looked about the same age of the male spirit. “You hush now. Hakyeon has been taking good care of us.” Hongbin looked confused. “Taking care of you? How has he been doing that?” He asked. The answer came from an elderly woman. “The poor dear has been helping us for so many years now. You see none of us have anyone to remember us, but we still have some business that needs to be taken care of. That’s where he comes in.” A teenage soul nods their head. “Yeah. He does research on all of us to try and give us some closure.” A spirit next to them interrupts. “He checks on how our surviving relatives are doing. Or if there aren’t any he visits the graves of our deceased loved ones for us.” Hongbin’s eyebrows furrow. “So if he helps you guys out then why doesn’t he cross you over? Why are there so many of you?” 

 

     Everyone in the crowd looked guilty. The little girl from before speaks up. “Because we like him!” She smiled brightly.  Hongbin was confused. “But you guys keep hurting him. Just now he passed out from how loud all of you were.” A young boy spoke up. “We weren’t being loud to hurt him. We did it to get those other spirits out of the room.” Hongbin’s head tilted a bit to the side. “Why would you do that?” The same boy spoke. “He hasn’t been sleeping well the past few days, we didn’t want those spirits taking up his time.” Hongbin let out a breath before rubbing the bridge of his nose. “But he has done all of the work to cross you over. Why don’t you leave? Some of you feel like you’ve been dead for ages, surely you must have family waiting for you?”  A woman with a pregnant belly spoke next. “We don’t leave so we can take care of him.” “Why would you need to take care of him?” The elderly woman from before spoke once again. “Because he doesn’t realize just how vulnerable he is.” She lets out a deep sigh. “He’s dealt with a lot in his life, and the wounds of the past haven’t healed.” Hongbin let out a little noise of confusion. The elderly lady shook her head. “That’s not a story for us to tell dear. All we can tell you is we help him as much as we can.” Hongbin nods in understanding. “I see. Well I think he would feel a lot better if you all crossed over. I mean he spent countless hours researching about all of your families. And he thinks you all crossed over already. Plus think about it. All of your energy attached to him may be having effects on him.” The crowd looked a bit frazzled. The little girl answered again. “But, but Hakyeon needs us!” The pregnant woman put her hand on the little girl’s shoulder. “Minju. I think he might be right. I mean you noticed how sick Hakyeon has been these past few days right? How he couldn’t sleep or eat much? That might be our fault.” Minju looked to the man in the bed. “Our fault?” She whipped her head back to Hongbin. “It’s our fault Hakyeon is sick?” Hongbin nodded. “You just take a lot of work to keep. And look at how many of you there are.” Minju looked around the room and tears filled her eyes. She looked back at Hongbin. “So how do we help him?” Hongbin kneeled to Minju’s level. “Do you see a bright light?” Minju looked around until her eyes locked on the corner of the room. “Mommy?” She said as more tears filled her eyes. “Go to her.” Minju ran to the light, hugging her mother tightly around the waist. Soon the rest of the spirits followed her lead. Meeting with friends, families, and lovers from their past. There wasn’t a dry eye among the spirits that finally found the peace they had been rejecting for so long. Soon all that was left was the pregnant woman, who stood by Hakyeon’s side. “Ma’am? Are you crossing over?” She turned to him, a kind smile on her face. “I plan to. I just wanted to say goodbye.” She turned back to Hakyeon and smoothed her delicate fingers through his hair. “I’ve been with him the longest. I feel like he’s the son I never got to bear. I’ve given him advice and guidance through his dreams for years.” A tear slipped from her eye. “He really has grown up so well. My precious boy.” She turned back to Hongbin. “Please. Please take care of him young man. I don’t think he can handle being alone.” Hongbin nodded. “I promise to take care of him.” The pregnant woman smiles again before turning to the light, a smile gracing her beautiful features. Her steps started out slow and steady, but she then saw her husband on the other side. After seeing his face her steps turned from a slow walk to a full sprint. She jumped into the arms of her husband, crying tears of joy as they embraced. The light grew dim after that.  Hongbin smiled.

 

**There wasn’t even one soul connected to Hakyeon.**

 


	6. The Past

     After Hongbin is done crossing all of the spirits over he lets out a sigh of relief. The energy in the room had gone down enough for him to finally take a deep breath. A few seconds after there is a knock at the door. “Come in!” He says looking over to see who is walking in. Taekwoon pokes his head through the door. “Are they all gone?” Hongbin smiles at his boyfriend. “Yeah, all of them have finally found the peace that they deserve.” “So why did they all stay in the first place?” Hongbin shook his head. “They wouldn’t tell me. They said that it was his story to tell but that he had been through a lot.” Hongbin took a seat in a chair near Hakyeon’s bed. “I guess now all we can do is wait for him to wake up and ask him about it.” Taekwoon nods and takes the seat next to Hongbin, wrapping his arm loosely around his shoulders. “Why don’t you take a nap? You’re probably exhausted from crossing over all of those spirits at once.” Taekwoon suggested, rubbing his hand up and down Hongbin’s arm to help calm him. Hongbin nodded. “I will. Wake me up when he does okay?” Taekwoon hums his affirmation before gently pulling Hongbin to make him a bit more comfortable. Hongbin settles down and is asleep in a few minutes. For the first time that entire week he falls into a dreamless sleep.

 

     It felt like only a few minutes later that Hongbin is being shaken awake by Taekwoon. “Hongbin, wake up. Hakyeon’s awake.” Hongbin’s eyes fluttered open, taking in the view of Hakyeon awake and sitting up on the bed in front of him. The other man was smiling. “Hey.” Hakyeon said, waving his arm a bit. Hongbin waved back before sitting up in his seat and stretching. “Hey. how are you feeling?” Hakyeon’s smile got wider. “I feel a lot better. Still a little sore in the ankle, but other than that I feel fine.” Hongbin smiled before it faded a bit. “That’s good, but I think we might need to talk about what happened before you passed out.” Hakyeon’s smile faded as well, and he lowered his gaze to the blanket resting across his lap. “We can’t talk about it here though. So let’s get the doctor to discharge you and we can get you comfortable at home.” Hakyeon nodded and Taekwoon went to get the doctor. Hakyeon was given specific instructions to rest and keep pressure off of his ankle for a few weeks to be safe. The doctor also gave him his prescriptions and his discharge papers. Soon Taekwoon and Hongbin were driving Hakyeon home.

 

     True to his word Hongbin made sure that Hakyeon was settled in his bed. He also asked Taekwoon if he could cook something for them while they talked. Taekwoon nodded, knowing his presence might overwhelm Hakyeon, and gave Hongbin a quick kiss on the forehead before leaving the room. Hongbin looked at Hakyeon, noting how the older man was looking anywhere but towards Hongbin. He also noticed how Hakyeon was picking at his fingernails. Hongbin rested his hand on Hakyeon’s hoping it would soothe the other. “I just want to let you know that you don’t have to tell me anything you aren’t comfortable sharing with me. But I will tell you this, I know you can hear the dead.” Hakyeon’s eyes widened. “But how did you-” Hongbin cut Hakyeon off. “I know because the spirits that were surrounding you told me themselves. I think you might have noticed how much lighter you feel?” Hakyeon nodded. “That’s because I crossed over all of the spirits that made attachments to you.” Hakyeon’s eyes widened a bit more in understanding. “You can hear them too?” He asked. “And I can see them. I was born with the ability to talk to the dead.” Hakyeon smiled. “Oh thank God.” He sniffled a bit. “I’m not the only one.” His eyes became a bit teary and a bright smile graced his face. Hongbin returned the smile. “Yeah. But I do have a question for you. Well two really.” Hakyeon gestured for Hongbin to continue. “What was your life like growing up? The spirits told me that you had been through a lot. And have you always been able to hear the dead?” Hakyeon took a deep breath. “Funny enough both of those questions share an answer.” Hakyeon brought his uninjured leg to his chest, resting his chin on his kneecap.

 

     “My childhood was kind of a mixed bag. I had a lot of highs but I had a lot of lows as well.” Hakyeon adjusts his chin more comfortably on his knee. “The town I grew up in wasn’t the safest. I mean most people in my area called it the “City of the Damned.” My father left my mom just before I was born. It was hard, just her and me fending for ourselves. But we made due with what we had.” Hakyeon smiled a bit. “My mom always worked so hard to make sure I was living a good life. She worked two jobs to put me in school in the wealthier part of town. And I worked so hard to make sure that money wasn’t put to waste. I worked so hard that I didn’t even make any friends.” Hakyeon lets out a sniffle. “I didn’t need friends. Because I had my mom. She loved me so much, she even got a third job so she could put me through dance lessons.” Hakyeon’s voice started shaking a bit. “But then she met my step dad. He was loaded, and he loved my mom so much. And I thought we were finally going to get out of that place. We were finally going to live the life we deserved to live after all of our hard work.” A tear slips down Hakyeon’s face. “But the day we were supposed to finally get out some guys broke into our house.” Hakyeon harshly rubs at his face to dry his tears. “ I ran upstairs and tried to fight them so they wouldn’t hurt my mom. But one of them pushed me down the stairs.” Hakyeon takes a deep breath before continuing, his voice becoming emotionless. “All I remember after that is my step dad and mom coming down the stairs and planning their new life together.” Hakyeon’s eyes glazed over, as if he were back at that night. “They left me for dead. They had planned the whole thing out so it looked like they were out on a date and there was a home invasion when I was home alone. My death would have been a tragic murder at the hands of a thief.” Hakyeon let out a dark chuckle. “They never planned on me living after being pushed down the stairs. But while they went out for their night on the town, I crawled to the house next door and they called the ambulance.” Hakyeon shifts so his temple is resting on his knee instead of his chin as he looks soullessly into Hongbin’s eyes. “That was the worst part of my life. Because of my little fall down the stairs I hit my head, and because of that I was blind for a week. That was when I started hearing the dead. At first I thought I was going crazy. Because all I could hear was hundreds of people screaming and crying in pain. But when I got my sight back and was taken to the orphanage I met a spirit that showed me I could hear the dead. I’ve been this way ever since.” Hakyeon’s eyes were still glazed over, and he didn’t really look like he was mentally in the room with Hongbin.

 

     Hongbin shifted a bit so he could gently put his hands on Hakyeon’s face. “Hakyeon?” Hakyeon didn’t speak. “Hakyeon, can you come back to me please?” Hakyeon’s eyes focused a bit on Hongbin, but Hongbin knew he wasn't all the way back. “Why would she do that Hongbin? Was I bad? Did I do something wrong? I must have if she wanted me dead.” Hongbin was afraid of the dead look in Hakyeon’s eyes. “I just wanted her to be happy. Was I really that much of a burden on her?” Hongbin shook his head.  “You are not a burden. Do you hear me? You are not broken. You did absolutely nothing wrong.” Hongbin looked straight into Hakyeon's eyes. “I don’t know why she would want to leave you behind. But she made a mistake. You are so kind and so talented I have no idea why she would do something like that to you.” A few tears escaped from Hakyeon’s eyes. It was like a spell was broken after that. Hakyeon began to shake and grabbed Hongbin for comfort. He took several shaky breaths. Taekwoon walked in at that moment. Originally he came up to tell them the food was done, but one look at the scene in front of him prompted him to wrap his arms around the two instead. After what could have been hours Hakyeon whispered something.

 

**“Thank You.”**

 


	7. Epilogue

     Hakyeon was running around his house making sure that everything was ready for his friends. It had been a little bit less than a year since Hongbin and Taekwoon had come into his life. He was very grateful for that day. It was the beginning of a long healing process, one he was still taking part of. He couldn’t say that he was healed from what he had been through, and he didn’t really think he would ever be “fully” healed. He didn’t think the fear of being abandoned again would ever not be a burden sitting in the back of his mind. But his new found friends sure did make his burden lighter than it would have been without them. Hongbin taught him how to filter out the voices of the dead when he was in areas with a high concentration of spirits. Taekwoon had slowly, but surely, incorporated him into the friend group that he and Hongbin had. And now here they were, having weekly dinners at his house with all of his new friends. It was awkward at the beginning, seeing as Hakyeon had never really had someone he could call a friend in his life. The beginning was full of over formality and anxiety over being abandoned once again. But soon enough he had become a member of the “Spooky Gang” as Jaehwan liked to call them.

 

     Hakyeon smiled fondly at the memory before being shook out of it by a knock at the door. “You know the door isn’t locked on Sundays!” He screamed at the door, hiding the strawberry shortcake he had made for Taekwoon’s birthday in case it was him and Hongbin. Instead Sanghyuk and Jaehwan walked through the door. “You shouldn’t be screaming that your door is unlocked. And shouldn’t you open the door for your guests?” Hakyeon stuck out his tongue at Jaehwan's comment. Sanghyuk laughed as he sat at his place at the table. It didn’t take long for him and Sanghyuk to get in a heated argument about different dance styles. Jaehwan was cackling in the background at the comments being thrown around by the two dancers. Soon Hongbin and Taekwoon walked in, breaking up the fight. They began to eat and exchange stories about work and the spirits that had been crossed over that week. It was in a rare moment of silence during the meal that Hakyeon thought to himself,

 

**“Thank you all. For keeping me company”**

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That's all she wrote! Thank you so much for reading my story and I hope you enjoyed it! ^_^ Feel free to yell at me in the comments.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading my story and I hope you will continue to enjoy it as I update it.


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